Increasing Access to HIV Prevention
In 2003, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched Avahan, an initiative to reduce the spread of HIV in India. In July 2009, the foundation announced that it had increased its total commitment to Avahan from $258 million to $338 million.
Avahan provides funding and support to targeted HIV prevention programs in the six Indian states with the highest HIV prevalence, and along the nation’s major trucking routes. Avahan-supported programs serve the groups that are most vulnerable to HIV infection, including sex workers, their clients and partners, high-risk men who have sex with men, and injecting drug users.
Avahan has helped a wide range of partners – including government agencies and more than 100 non-governmental organizations – to significantly expand access to HIV prevention services. Every month, Avahan-supported programs reach hundreds of thousands of people with condoms, risk-reduction counseling, treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and other prevention services.
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